The Hawaiian Luau
In old Hawaii, large multi-day feasts called ʻahaʻaina were held to celebrate weddings, the arrival of honored guests and other important events. They were times to honor the gods and to share one's good fortune generously with friends and family. What better way to celebrate than with loads of food, singing and talking story. It wasn't until the last 150 years that these special events came to be called luʻaus, after the Hawaiian word for the young taro leaves incorporated into many traditional dishes.
Today, luaus fall into two general categories. There are the lavish buffet lines orchestrated for visiting tourists, usually with after-dinner hula dancing / singing / fire juggling, and then there are private family luaus. The latter would look like potlucks to many mainlanders, with family and friends all partipicating in the food preparation duties. Both types of luaus share in common the quintessential luau food: puaʻa kālua, a whole pig baked in an underground "oven."
Preparation of puaʻa kālua begins early in the day when a pit is dug in the earth large enough to hold an entire pig. The bottom of the pit is lined with volcanic rocks, and blazing wood fire is built on top. When the rocks are red hot, wet banana or ti leaves are placed over the rocks, the pig is laid on top, and more leaves are placed all around. The pit is re-filled with dirt and left to cook for nearly half a day before the pig is removed and served.
Other traditional luʻau dishes alongside puaʻa kālua include some combination of poi, poke, lomi lomi salmon, lau lau, haupia, breadfruit, chicken luʻau, sweet potato, chicken long rice and seasonal fruits. There is never a shortage of amazing food at a luʻau.
I recently made my best attempt to cook a scaled-down luau feast when family from the mainland came for a visit. Understandably, I had to make a few concessions, but the end results taste authentic. (I can't begin to imagine our landlord's wrath at a smoldering puaʻa kālua pit in our yard!) This post marks the beginning of a sporadic series describing the recipes I prepared, nearly all of which could easily be made even outside the islands.
Other posts in this series:
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As I understand it, pigs were brought to the islands relatively recently, yet they're the core of a luau. What did they have before that?
You've stumped me. I think there's a general consensus that breeding pigs weren't brought on the very first Polynesian canoes, but I was under the impression that they did did come on later voyages. But if that's the case, why did Capt. Cook trade pigs to the Hawaiians when he arrived? I'm going to research this further and see if I can come up with an answer as part of an upcoming post talking further about pua'a kalua.
hi alan,
I enjoyed your article. do you think you could make a post for a recipe for Poke sometime soon?
I love it!
Welcome back Mindy. Poke is on my list, but that's one I forgot to photograph. I'll either have to make it again soon and take a few shots, or post a recipe without the photo.
Hi, Im doing a research project specifically on kalua pig and its traditional preparation. I need to find who is involved in killing the pig, the imu, are women present, who eats what parts of the pig, etc. Can anyone help?
Thanks, kate
Kate, I haven't come across any good source material that focuses in detail on traditional practices, although I've been looking. Have you come across anything yet?
Aloha Alan,
I'm doing a project Ogo Limu recipies and I was just wonfering if you got a chance to take a picture of the Ogo Poke`. If not, how soon will you be able to post it? Could you send it to me?
Mahalo Nui,
Isha York
Isha- Take a look at the poke link above and see if that works for you. All the images and text are available for use with attribution. Check out the full copyright license for details. Good luck!